Cycling with fish and ich, unfortunately

[Maman2x]

Hello, I'm new here, and to fish and aquariums.

We bought a 45g bowfront aquarium in September and tried the fishless cycling with ammonia. After 3 months, the ammonia still hadn't got down and we never got nitrItes or nitrAtes.

We got sick of waiting for something to happen. We changed the water in the aquarium and added the anti-chlorine treatment. We did some research on bottled bacteria. We ended up buying Tetra SafeStart online (we can't find any here). As it is instructed, we added the whole bottle (for aquariums up to 75g), then the fish within two hours. It said that we could fully stock the aquarium, but I wasn't comfortable with that. So we got a school of 12 neon tetras and 3 platies.

One of the neons died in the car on our way home. The next morning, another one died. I took a close look at the neons, and 3 of them seemed to have the neon tetra disease, so we got rid of them before they made the other ones sick.

The day after that (day 2), another neon died (total of 6 out of 12). I looked at the survivors closely and the neons seem to have ich, but none seem to have the neon tetra disease. Two of the platies also seemed to have red gills. I took the readings and they were 1 for ammonia, 0 for nitrItes and .5 for nitrAtes. So I'm thinking the red gills could be caused by ammonia poisoning.

Since Monday, we've been taking daily readings and doing 50 % daily water changes. I have also raised the temperature gradually to 85F to treat the ich and I plan on keeping it that way for 10 days. I also lowered the water level so that the splash would add oxygen in the water. I don't want to add medication which would kill the good bacteria (if there is any yet). I have not lost another fish since. The white spots have almost all disappeared. The platies still have red gills (less in the morning and more in the evening right before the water change) and some wounds.

I really didn't want to cycle with fish. The fishless cycle with ammonia still wasn't working after 3 months. I honestly thought the fish would be fine with SafeStart. That's why I got some fish even if my aquarium was not cycled.

Is there anything else I can do to make it easier on the fish? I'm worried about them...

 

[tsharkey]

Hi, if i may, where did you buy your fish? The reason being is that ich comes from a parasite that is connected to the gills. If the platies are twitching then they have ich. The red on the gills may not be red gill but irritation of the gills from the parasite. This means that you r whole tank is infested with this parasite. Also raising the temp. is good but 85 is a little high. I would bring it down to 81. It is stopping the parasites from reproducing but not killing them. I would also not do 50% water changes. Instead do 20%. Where ever you got the fish, all of their tanks infected with it as well even if you can't see it yet. If you want to avoid and ich issue in the future and have crystal clear water then I would purchase a diatom filter. I use an XL diatom on y 210 gallon reef tank. You could purchase a D-1 diatom and that would provide fantastic filtration for your tank. You can find them at thatpetplace.com. Consider getting one and plus you can continue to use it even if you upgrade.

Hope this helps!

 

[Maman2x]

I bought the fish in the LFS. It is the only one around, the closest being a 3 hour drive away (I live in the middle of nowhere in Canada). I know it is an awful fish store. I have very often seen ich in their tanks, but it's pretty much my only option, unless I start breeding but it's too early for that. I do plan on getting a quarantine tank later on, but I have to cycle my main tank first.

I read in a lot of places on the net to raise the temperature to 85. Is there a reason you recommend to lower it to 81? Like you said: "It is stopping the parasites from reproducing but not killing them." Wouldn't it be better to kill them? What would you recommend to kill them?

Also, doing a 20% water change is enough when I have an ammonia reading of 1ppm? Wouldn't that only lower it to .8ppm? I thought I had to aim below .5 ppm, or even .025 ppm.

TIA!

 

[jlk]

Actually, 85f is a bit lower than recommended. 86-88f will do a better job of addressing the ich. Just make sure you have lots of aeration because warm water holds less oxygen. You will need to maintain the heat for atleast one week AFTER the last spot is gone- this may take longer than 10 days.

So, far it sounds like your doing good job of keeping things under control with water changes during the cycling process to keep your guys happy and healthy! Keep up the good work and have some patience! Below is some more info on fish-in cycling- please ask if you have any questions!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[jlk]

Forgot my manners, welcome to AA!!!!

 

[Maman2x]

Thanks!

I found this link too, which is very detailed on different steps I need to take.

New Tank Syndrome - Aquarium Advice

Is the high temperature enough or should I add salt? Different web sites say different things.

 

[jlk]

The heat alone should be enough without having to use anything else. I would only use salt if needed or as a treatment by itself (without heat). It sounds like things are improving so I would just continue on the course your on.